Book support device



Oct. 29, 1968 D. w. FRANCIS BOOK SUPPORT DEVICE Filed Feb. 13, 1967 INVENTOR. DON/7L0 W Fm/vc/s United States Patent 3,408,032 BOOK SUPPORT DEVICE Donald W. Francis, RR. 7, Box 9A, Bloomington, Ind. 47401 Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,748 Claims. (Cl. 248-450) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for supporting a book in a position to be read by a person in a chair or in bed. The device incorporates adjustable structure for adapting the device to any size bed or chair or the like or any sized book and for setting the book at a desired position and angle. The book is firmly held in place by its pages extending through a central opening in a support element and by the cover of the book being clamped on one side of the element and the pages clamped on the other side of the element.

Background of the invention Field of the inventi0n.This invention relates to a book support device.

Description of the prior art.-Various devices are provided in the prior art for supporting a book over a bed or the like such as shown, for example, in the US. patents to Nichols 2,050,115, Hawk 2,244,773, Lykes 2,807,908 and Johnson et al. 3,128,573. These prior art devices are not always as firmly mounted'and steady as might be desired. Also they do not provide as great a range of adjustment of the position of the book as might be desired and they do not provide as much ease in the releasing and turning of pages of the book as might be desired.

Summary of the invention One embodiment of the invention might include a book support device which comprises a flat element having a rectangular central opening adapted to receive the pages of a book with the pages of the book on one side of the element and the cover on the other side thereof, said flat element having a pair of slots onopposite sides of said central opening and extending away from said central opening, a pair of hold down devices each adjustably mounted on a respective one of said slots for movement toward and away from said central opening, each of said hold down devices including a spring biased clip on the other side of said element adapted to hold down said cover against said element and a spring biased arm adapted to hold down said pages against said element, and means for mounting said first element on a chair or the like at a desired position and attitude.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved book support device.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a book support device which makes possible firm and steady mounting of a book for reading by the user.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a book support device which has a great range of adjustment.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a book support device which permits easy turning of the pages of the book while it is being supported on the device.

Brief description 0 the drawing FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a book support device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken through a portion of the structure of FIG. 1.

ice

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is illustrated a book support device 10 which includes a flat element 11 made up of a pair of plates 12 connected together by four hinges 15. Only two of the hinges 15 actually operate as hinges for the purpose of folding the plates 12 to cause the apparatus to occupy 'a smaller space for storage and shipment. The other two of the hinges 15 act as locking means to secure the two plates 12 in an aligned coextensive position. The plates can be pivoted relative to one another if the hinge pin is removed from two of the four hinges. The plates are locked in aligned coextensive position when all of the hinge pins are in place. The fiat element 11 has a central opening 16 which receives the pages 17 of a book 20 in the manner suggested in FIG. 1. In other words, the pages 17 are projected from the rearward side 21 of the flat element 11 to the forward side 22 thereof through the central opening 16 so that the cover 25 is positioned on the rearward side 21 of the fiat element 11 and the pages are located on the forward side 22 of the flat element 11 as shown in FIG. 2.

A pair of hold down devices 26 are adjustably mounted on the fiat element 11 for holding the book 20 in place. The flat element 11 has a pair of slots 27 on the opposite sides of the central opening 16, said slots 27 extending away from the central opening 16 and extending longitudinally of the flat element 11 which has a rectangular shape. Each of the hold down devices 26 includes a rod 30 having a handle 31 on its distal end and a hold down arm 32 projecting from the rod 30. Each of the hold down arms 32 has a rubber gripper 35 thereon which engages the pages 17 to hold them in place.

At the opposite end of the rod 30 from the handle 31, threads 36 are provided upon which is received a wing nut 37. Also received upon the rod 30 is a coiled compression spring 40 which acts between a base 41 and a washer 42 retained in position by the wing nut 37. The base 41 has fixedly mounted thereon a sleeve 45 through which the rod 30 extends and which also receives the coiled compression spring 40. The base 41 has at its opposite ends guide portions 46 which project into the slots 27 to retain the base 41 in position adjacent the respective slot 27. Each of the bases 41 is adjustably fixed in position by means of a bolt 50 which extends through the respective slot 27 and has received thereon a washer 51.

Also mounted upon the base 41 is a clip which is biased by a spring 56 acting between the base 41 and the clip 55. The clip 55 is pivotal on a pin 57 which is mounted on suitable projections 60 extending from the base 41. The clip 55 functions to hold the cover 25 of the book 20 in position against the rearward side 21 of the flat element 11.

It can be appreciated that when the user of the present device desires to turn a page of the book 20 he can lift the hold down device 26 to permit the page to be turned and can lift the other hold down device 26 to permit the page to be placed under the other hold down device. The spring 40 and the wing nut 37 of each hold down device 26 permits adjustment of the force exerted by the hold down arm 32. Thus, if the hold down arm 32 of either of the hold down devices 26 is exerting too much pressure, all that the user need do is to unscrew the wing nut 37 of the particular hold down device to reduce the force exerted.

The flat element 11 has four further slots 60 therein which are used to mount semicircular shaped yokes 61. Each of the yokes 61 has a central base portion 62 through which two bolts 65 extend, said bolts serving to adjustably mount the yokes 61 on the rearward side 21 of the flat element 11. Each of the yokes 61 has a partcircular slot 66 formed in the semi-circular portion of the yoke. There is also provided a pair of arm assemblies 70, each of which includes a pair of telescoping members 71 and 72 adjustably fixed to one another by thumb screws 75. The upper end of each of the arm assemblies 70 is pivoted to a respective one of the yokes 61 at the center of curvature of the slot 66 of the yoke. Each of the arm assemblies 70 may be adjusted to any fixedposition relative to the fiat element 11 by tightening the wing nut 80 of a respective bolt 81 which extends through the part-circular slot 66 of the respective yoke.

The opposite end of each of the arm assemblies-70 is similarly mounted upon a larger yoke 85. Each of the larger yokes 85 has a semi-circular portion 86 within which is formed a part-circular slot 87, said slot 87 having a center of curvature at 90 which is also the location of pivotal mounting of the end of the arm assembly 70. Each arm assembly 70 is pivotally mounted on its respective yoke 85 by means of a suitable pin 91. Each of the yokes 85 is fixed to a clamp 95 which consists of a channel portion 97 and a thumb screw 96 for fixing the book support device to the rails of a bed or to the arms of a lounge chair or the like.

It will be evident from the above description that the present invention provides an improved book support device which makes possible firm and steady mounting of a book. lt will also be evident that the book support device of the present invention has a great range of adjustment of the position of the book relative to the user. In other words, the book can even face downwardly over a user who is lying on his back in bed. It will be further evident that the hold down devices 26 of the present invention make possible ease of releasing and turning of the pages of the book and of regripping of the pages of the book. Thus, the force exerted on the pages by the arms 32 can be easily adjusted by the use of the wing nuts 37.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

The invention claimed is:

1. A book support device which comprises a flat element having a rectangular central opening adapted to receive the pages of a book with the pages of the book on one side of the element and the cover on the other side thereof, said flat element having a pair of slots on opposite sides of said central opening and extending away from said central opening, a pair of hold down devices each adjustably mounted on a respective one of said slots for movement toward and away form said central opening, each of said hold down devices including a spring biased clip on the other side of said element adapted to hold down said cover against said element and a spring biased arm adapted to hold down said pages against said element, and means for mounting said first element on a chair or the like at a desired position and attitude.

2. The book support device of claim 1 wherein said element is centrally hinged for reducing the size of said element in packing and storage, and means for locking said element in a flat position.

3. The book support device of claim 1 wherein each of said hold down devices comprises a base member having guide means thereon projecting into a respective one of said pair of slots, a bolt. extending through said base and one slot and adjustably fixing said base to said element, a sleeve fixed to said base, a rod extending through said sleeve and base, said hold down arm being mounted on said rod, a handle on said rod on the one side of said element, said rod being threaded on the portion thereof on the other side of said element, a nutand washer on said threaded portion of said rod, and a compression spring acting between said base and said nut and washer and surrounding said rod and received in said sleeve.

4. The book support device of claim 1 wherein said means for mounting comprises a pair of mounting assemblies, said element having four slots two of which are on one side of said central opening and the remaining two of which are on the opposite side of said central opening, said four slots extending away from said central opening, each of said mounting assemblies being adjustably mounted at one end to a respective two of said four slots whereby the spacing between each of said mounting assemblies can be increased or decreasde.

5. The book support device of claim 4 wherein each of said mounting assemblies comprises a clamp, a first semicircular shaped member fixedly mounted on said clamp, a second semi-circular shaped member having a part-circular slot therein, said first semi-circular shaped member having a part-circular slot therein, an arm assembly ineluding a pair of telescoping members adjustably fixed to one another, said arm being pivoted at one end to the circle center of said first semi-circular shaped member and at the center of curvature of the slot thereof, said arm being pivoted at the other end thereof to the circle center of said second semicircular shaped member and at the center of curvature of the slot thereof, bolts extending through said arm and through said part-circular slots for adjustably fixing the angular relationship of said arm and semi-circular shaped members, said second semicircular shaped members being adjustably fixed to said element at said four slots.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 402,518 4/ 1889 Fowler 248-450 2,823,489 2/1958 Laing 248-445 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,455 6/ 1930 Germany.

608,077 9/1948 Great Britain. 659,508 4/1950 Great Britain. 670,049 8/1949 Great Britain.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner. J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

